4.3 Wickwar Road and Somerset Close
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
4.3 Wickwar Road and Somerset Close I. Related to the very local landscape: Wickwar Road (B 4060) runs from the main crossroads junction at The Chipping to the southerly parish boundary where it becomes Station Road in Wickwar. This has a junction with Chase Lane just south of the parish boundary. Wickwar Road represents a winding through route for traffic travelling to the south out of the village. The development has been built over time and on an ad-hoc basis. This has resulted in non uniform design style. Somerset Close is a cul-de-sac. Detached houses built in the mid 1980’s located between Hillesley Road and Wickwar Road. The access is from Wickwar Road. Some of the houses border onto open fields. Somerset Close was built on a brownfield site which was formerly a haulage yard. The landscape here is such that there is no risk of flooding. There is just one branch off the roadway connecting to Wickwar Road, which ensures that the pleasant cul-de-sac character is evident throughout the development. 56 Somerset Close - Views to fields Somerset Close Houses Pattern and Shape: Beyond the entrance to Somerset Close on the south-east side of the road and for the whole length of the other side of the road, open fields lie behind properties emphasising the rural nature and character of the area. Beyond the Kingswood village road sign the settlement continues as Wickwar road runs through agricultural land with just a small number of properties located close to the road. A number of existing farms, or farmhouses and barns converted for residential use, are accessed by driveways on either side of the road. See table of farms in section 1.5 The pattern of property development can be generalised as representing ribbon development along Wickwar Road. Progressive infill development of properties that took place over most of the 20th century has resulted in no dominating pattern of building style or design. Vehicular access to the properties in Squaws Lake is from the Wickwar Road and this access continues as a footpath to link pedestrians with Hillesley Road. This footpath is used to access the village hall. 57 The driveway to the Village Hall and Playing Field runs off the north-west side of Wickwar Road. Beyond the village sign, marking the extent of the built settlement, a high proportion of the farms and converted farmhouses and barns to the south of the village access the public road system via Wickwar Road. These include Trench Farm, Neathwood Farm, Day House Farm, Highwood Farm and Cherryrock Farm. See table of Farms in section 1.5. For much of its length Wickwar Road provides spectacular views of the sweep of the Cotswold escarpment from Nibley Knoll and Tyndale Monument in the north to Hawkesbury Knoll and the Somerset Monument in the south-south-east. The road is a prominent feature and is used as a main commuter route linking Kingswood with the towns of Chipping Sodbury and Yate and Junction 18 on the M4 motorway. There is a pavement on both sides but this extends only to the furthest properties of the continuous built settlement. Notably it does not extend around a bend in the road immediately beyond which are the residential properties, “Chimneys” and Trench Farmhouse. The majority of the properties have driveways so vehicles are parked off the road. The road narrows as it gets further into the village and there are more vehicles parked on this stretch of road particularly at the intersection with Hillesley Road. For virtually the whole length beyond the built settlement, approximately two miles, the road has hedges on both sides. Where light industrial activities are conducted there are screening conifers (see section 1.5) but the majority of the hedging comprises native trees and provides a habitat for wildlife. 58 Somerset Close represents the only development of housing that is accessed from Wickwar Road. There are 39 houses in total. The estate has pavements and one area of traffic calming. The gardens are unfenced and open to the pavement. The houses have paved drives and garages. The width of the driveways and associated dropped kerbs, combined with the close spacing between properties, results in relatively limited locations for on-street parking. The gardens at the front are laid to lawn and there are mature shrubs, all houses have a reasonable sized garden at the rear. Only the first houses on the road have chimneys, properties built subsequently have internal flues. Solar panels have been installed retrospectively on the south-facing roof elevations of some properties. II. Nature of Buildings: There is a wide range of property types and architectural designs, mostly dating from the 20th century. With the exception of a small red-brick terrace and the four pairs of semi-detached houses built by the local council in 1927, properties in Wickwar Road were largely designed and built on an individual basis. Most properties were initially intended to be surrounded on all sides by large areas put down to gardens, but this character has been lost, to a considerable extent, due to infill development of later properties and/or substantial extensions to existing properties. Wickwar Road provides the majority of bungalows to be found in the village. As the residential properties on Wickwar Road were not designed as part of a development there is a wide range of building types and materials, and the resulting buildings include a number of substantial, individual properties. 59 Fairview, formerly of Fairview Farm, is a substantial white rendered house, one of the very few built before the 20th century, in this case early in the 1800s. A stone-built barn converted to a residence, Cloverlea Barn, along with its small-holding, is accessed by an adjacent track off Wickwar Road. Nearby, Westfield House is an example of the substantial, individual properties developed towards the end of the 20th century. 60 Whereas this property has a facade of mixed materials, many of the most recent developments have favoured the use of reconstituted stone blocks. Lower Trench House is a rare example of a house built in natural stone. White rendering is favoured in many of the older properties, in this case also showing a sympathetic modern extension to the cottage at the far end of the terrace. The windows and roof line are in keeping with the original building. The four pairs of semi-detached inter-war council houses were by the built local council in 1927. These were originally built to meet a chronic housing shortage, having a large garden to enable the occupiers to grow their own food. They are white-rendered and in most cases have undergone extensions or have had garages or sheds built on the surrounding land, that was once garden. 61 The red-brick terrace that formerly housed the ironmongery and hardware business of T. J. Hignell and sons retains some stylish features, including the tile-brick decorations around doorways and bay windows and the stained glass panels in some of the upper windows. It still houses business premises in the shape of a hairdressing salon. The provision of services is important to the village and this should be retained for business use and not converted to residential. III. Building Materials: White rendering Local stone Various shades of red brick. The houses in the initial development off Wickwar Road have dark wood window frames, the remainder are white. The window style on Somerset Close is a small-paned Georgian design Chimneys only on the first houses coming on Somerset Close IV. Distinctive Features: Individually designed and built houses (Wickwar Road) Bungalows Kingswood Village Hall - See community section Kingswood Playing Field - See community section Open, rural aspect affording spectacular views of Cotswold escarpment Fairview House Red-brick terrace Well-maintained operating and converted farmhouses White rendering on houses Working farms Views through to open countryside Haroldsfield Farm, Alderley and Wotton Views through to the older properties on Hillesley Road Open aspect (Somerset Close) 62 Opens gardens (Somerset Close) Green verges ( Somerset Close) Safe environment for children to play (Somerset Close) 4.4 Charfield Road and Tyndale View I. Related to the very local landscape: There is a mixture of properties along Charfield Road. Some of the older properties are terraced rendered-brick cottages while others are large detached houses. There are also some c.1970 semi-detached properties. What is distinctive about the Charfield Road is the mixture of industry and residential property along with open countryside. To one end, at the junction with Wotton Road, there is even a set of multi-sport and tennis courts established on land purchased by the Parish Council and developed through a village community initiative. Tyndale View is a cul-de-sac of 41 houses built from 2008. It has a more closed-in feel at the entrance as the road is narrow. The first part of this development is a block of flats which forms part of the affordable housing for this development. The first part of the road is of terraced housing. The estate then opens out into a wide grassed area with large detached houses. There is a small Local Area for Play (LAP) and an area left as grass meadow. This 63 area joins on to the new community areas that form part of the new Chestnut Park Estate. There is a footpath which joins this estate to Chestnut Park. II. Pattern and shape: Charfield Road (B 4062) extends from the New Mills roundabout junction with New Road (B 4058) near the boundary of the Parish of Kingswood, to the junction with Old Rectory Road (B 4060), effectively forming a cross-roads junction with Wotton Road and Abbey Street.